At what point would you feel justified jumping in?

This is a discussion on At what point would you feel justified jumping in? within the Carry & Defensive Scenarios forums, part of the Defensive Carry Discussions category; Assuming you are in a public place (store, restaurant, theater or such) and a BG walks in. . .
You are armed. (concealed)
At what ...

View Poll Results: Assuming you are in a public place (store, reasturant, theater or such) and a BG walk

Voters

131. You may not vote on this poll

BG claims he has a gun, but gun is not visible - Demands money

2015.27%

BG claims he has a gun, but gun is not visible BUT BG is acting wild/irrational - Demands money

43.05%

BG displays a gun - Demands money

4332.82%

BG displays gun and is acting wild/irrational - Demands money

2418.32%

BG is herding people to a back room or lining up everyone on their knees

Not sure when I would act without being there and seeing what my feel for the situation was. However, I can say that I would NEVER turn my back on the guy, and I would NEVER, EVER get down on my knees with my back to the guy - whether I was armed, or not.

In the event that it was in a public place and the BGs attention was not on ME, I'd say somewheres around #4. If it were a dark parking lot situation and it were just me and him, I'd take his word for it at #1 and he'd meet the LCP right then and there.

The moment I feel my life is in imminent danger. There are so many variables we could identify and second guess... behavior, tone of voice, reaction/action. Based on the survey I would fall somewhere between 1 and 8.

I voted #5 but my "real" answer is always "it depends". The way the question and options are worded, it sounds as if there are lots of people around.

If I'm trapped (e.g., BG is between me and the only exit) - it depends. If he's not looking in my direction, and his behavior shows he just wants money and really isn't eager to use the gun except to instill fear (1,2,3,4,6,7)... I'll probably slowly get my gun, but hope he leaves with no violence.

If BG starts staging people for execution (5), or actually shoots someone (8), it's game on. I'm moving to exit WHILE shooting at BG, if I have a clear shot (if not, I'm just dodging and running as fast as I can, in hopes that his luck and skill in hitting a moving target with a handgun isn't any better than mine).

This is a very personal question; we all have our own threshold and IMO there is no 'right' or 'wrong' answer. Just a question of what you can live with - if you live.

"...people who carry a gun understand that they are arming themselves against a very unlikely event... People who arm themselves are not confused about the odds. They are concerned about the stakes. -Kathy Jackson NRA Life Member

I would say that at #3 and up I would feel justified in using lethal force. All of these things depend on the situation and my read on things in the moment. There is no real answer that can be absolute when you are in front of a keyboard.

Fact is, if they pull it out, they can point and shoot at any moment, and you'll have NO chance to react at that point, especially if they shoot you. It's as close to pre-emptive self-defense as you can get.